New Delhi, Dec. 20 -- The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that passport authorities cannot indefinitely deny renewal of a passport merely because criminal proceedings are pending against an individual, underlining that the right to travel abroad and the right to hold a passport are integral facets of the right to personal liberty guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and AG Masih held that once criminal courts, fully aware of the pending cases, permit renewal of a passport subject to safeguards, the passport authority cannot refuse renewal on a speculative apprehension that the individual may misuse the document.

"To refuse renewal on such speculative apprehension is, in effect, to second-guess t...